Israel first night

Israel trip first night; June 27, 2007

I got a rental car at the airport from Budget and it was a great deal. Instead of paying $125 per day for the guide to rent a car that he would use, he suggested that we could rent the car and save some money, as it will only be the three of us. It was only $150 per week for the car from Budget, and I was able to drive us from the airport in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and got us to the hotel by only asking for directions one time. We arrived at the Dan Panorama Hotel in Jerusalem. I am so impressed with myself.

Not only did I get us to Jerusalem based on signs written in Hebrew, I drove in the public transportation lane (reserved for taxis and buses) found the hotel, made an illegal turn onto a 1 way street, going the wrong way, with a police car behind us, and didn’t get a ticket. Boy, they are generous here. In Mexico I would have probably been hauled off to jail. In Syria I would have probably been shot dead in the street. Okay, all the signs were also written in English and Arabic too.

Anyway, we got settled into our hotel room, took a nap to recover from the 14-hour flight on El Al (a great airline). When we woke up we walked south where we ate at Caffit, 35 Emek Rafa’im Street. They were primarily vegetarian plus fish. I thought I would get a mushroom burger, but the waitress said it had no meat. So I got a salmon burger and it was really good. Dianne got a salad, and between the two of us, it was too much food. We could have split one dish just like we do at home when we eat out.

We walked back to our hotel and went to sleep. Tomorrow will be our first day with our guide, Ron Beer. (Beer is German and pronounced Bear)